Qatar Incites Renewal Of Arab Spring, Hopes For Fall Of 'Tyrannical' Arab Regimes, Especially Egyptian Regime
In the recent months, and especially since the downfall of the Bashar Al-Assad regime in Syria in December 2024, the Qatari press, both Qatar-based and London-based, has published articles and cartoons encouraging the renewed outbreak of protests and uprising like those of the Arab Spring, but even more intensive and violent, that would lead to the collapse of the Arab regimes, in particular the regime of Egypt. The articles claim that the factors that led to the outbreak of the Arab Spring in 2010 – including dire economic and social conditions, injustice, inequality and tyranny – still hold in most of the Arab countries and have even increased. These factors are therefore bound to provoke another wave of the Arab Spring, even more forceful than the previous one, which will topple the 'tyrannical regimes' in the Arab countries. The articles claim further that the fall of the Assad regime has sparked new hope in the hearts of the peoples and serves as a lesson to the tyrants who think that "they own the country and the people' and believe themselves to be 'exempt from accountability and punishment.' The resurgence of the Arab Spring, they say, is 'inevitable' and will be like a "raging flood' that will 'sweep [the tyrants] away into the trashcan of history.'
The articles hint especially at the need to overthrow the Egyptian regime, by making suggestive references to 'Pharaohs,' to Tahrir Square (the name of the Cairo square that was the epicenter of the protests against the Mubarak regimes in 2011), to 'tyrannical military regimes,' hinting at the regime of Abd Al-Fattah Al-Sisi, and to the deteriorating economic situation.[1]
Similar messages were conveyed on social media by journalists, public-opinion shapers and others in Qatar.
Cartoon in Qatari daily: "The new Arab Spring" is reemerging from the grave (Al-Watan, Qatar, December 11, 2024)
In this context it is important to note that the Qatari regime, which encouraged and fanned the flames of the Arab Spring protests that began in 2010, especially by means of its Al-Jazeera Network, is itself highly despotic, and even abolished parliamentary elections in the country recently.[2]
This report presents the discourse in Qatar on the hope for a resurgence of the Arab Spring after the downfall of the Assad regime in Syria.
Articles In Qatari Press: The New Arab Spring, Which Is Imminent, Will Be More Violent Than The Previous One And Will Topple The Tyrants
As mentioned, since the fall of the Assad regime, the Qatari press, both within the country and outside it, has published many articles claiming that the causes of the Arab Spring are still in place and predicting that the fall of the Assad regime would reignite the Arab Spring in additional Arab countries and lead to the ouster of their 'tyrannical regimes.'
Qatari Economist: The Factors That Caused The Arab Spring Have Only Grown Stronger; It Will Re-erupt In Full Force And Sweep The Tyrants Into The Trashcan Of History
In an article titled 'The Pharoah Family and the Arab Spring – Is the [Arab] Spring Dead?', published in two Qatari dailies – Al-Arabi Al-Jadid and Al-Sharq – in early March 2025, Qatari economist Khalid Bin Rashed Al-Khater wrote that the factors that led to the Arab Spring are still in place, and have in fact intensified, and are therefore likely to cause a new Arab Spring, more violent than the previous one.
He wrote: 'Whoever thinks the Arab Spring is over is mistaken and should think again. The proof is what transpired in Syria; the causes of the [Arab] Spring are still there and we await the next location…
'The causes of the next [Arab] Spring are valid, and when the conditions are ripe and the circumstances are fitting, [we will discover] that what we have seen of it was not the end but the beginning, and its first wave, which may be followed by waves unlike those that came before, each more powerful than the last, like rain that pours down relentlessly and [gives rise to] stronger plants and a better and more glorious spring. Whoever thinks that the Arab Spring was buried alive by the military oppression or the plots hatched with the West and the East is mistaken. On the contrary, the oppression is [just] a test, a preparation, a price that must be paid and a phase that must be experienced in advance of what is to come… Will the price be high and the change be difficult? Or will the lesson of the Syrian experience be learned, making [the trials] less difficult and easier to swallow?...
'What occurred in Syria is a lesson for the tyrants, but the Pharoah mentality is immutable… The Pharoah family seems to suffer from a particular syndrome – the Pharoah Syndrome or mental blindness, also called a 'disconnect from reality' – which tyrants contract sooner or later, as exemplified by Pharoah, Nimrod [a tyrant mentioned in the Bible and the Quran], [Muammar] Gaddafi, Bashar [Al-Assad] and others who cleave to their throne and only death can remove them from it. These are people whose arrogance and vanity cause them mental blindness and who think that they own the country and the people… and that they are exempt from accountability and punishment…
'The members of the Pharoah family are numerous. Oh how numerous they are in our time… [When I say Pharoah] the reference is clearly not just to Pharoah of Moses's time, for there are many pharaohs and tyrants like him [today], some of whom may have spilled more blood than he did, sowed devastation and destruction and tyrannized the Muslims. But it is Pharoah who represents them and he is their role model and their leader… Every despot who rules tyrannically and sows devastation and destruction everywhere, like Pharoah did, is a member of the Pharoah dynasty …
'The Arab Spring is not dead and shouldn't be dead, because the reasons for it are still alive and have even deepened. The corrupt regimes have increased their corruption and tyranny and the condition of the peoples has deteriorated. At the same time, [the peoples] have become more aware and grown in conviction, and know how to extricate themselves [from tyranny]. And whoever bets on his ability to stop them from doing so when they really want to is like one who futilely stands in the path of a raging flood that will sooner or later will sweep him away into the trashcan of history. There is no way back and no other option for these [tyrants, who must either] enact reforms or step down…
'The fear is that an Arab Spring will arrive, more violent than the previous one, as a natural reaction to: the counter-coups, the regimes' barbaric repression of the [Arab Spring's] first wave, the absence of solutions, the loss of hope, the worsening of the political and economic situation and the forcing of more debt on the state than it can endure – so much so that [the state] has shackled its own sovereignty to the long economic arm of the old Western imperialism and to a policy that pretends to be reform but in fact [only] adds fuel to the fire and makes the bad [situation] even worse.
'According to the literature on political economy, nations rise up when they see that the benefits of rebelling are greater than the benefits of refraining from doing so. The deeper the peoples' plight and despair, the stronger the motives for rebellion and the greater and more promising its anticipated rewards. In any case, the wheel of time does not turn back. There may be a delay or difficulties, and money may play some role or other, but it will not stop [the rebellion] as long as the conditions are present and the circumstances are right… 'The time for everything is inscribed in the Book'[3] and indeed this is the nation of the Quran and it shall not perish…'[4]
Cartoon in Qatari daily: 'The despotic regimes' are on the brink of collapse (Al-Watan, Qatar, December 24, 2024)
Article In Qatari Daily: Most Of The Despotic Arab Regimes Will Go The Way Of The Assad Regime; This Is Inevitable
In his December 25, 2024 column in the London-based daily Al-Quds Al-Arabi, titled 'The Renewed Waves of the Arab Spring after the Fall of the Regime of the Tyrant Bashar Al-Assad,' columnist Nabil Al-Sahli likewise predicted that Assad's downfall would reignite the Arab Spring and sweep away tyrannical regimes of most Arab countries. He wrote: 'The recent overthrow of the despotic Bashar Al-Assad regime by the Syrian people strongly gives rise to several questions, chiefly: Will the squares of change and freedom[5] in most Arab countries see a second wave of the Arab Spring that will sweep away the despotic military regimes? Especially given that the phenomena of poverty and want, and the absence of justice, dignity and citizen [rights] are still prevalent…
'Those who follow [the events] see that the iron fist of the regimes that have ruled most of the Arab countries for decades is growing heavier. But the gravest thing is that, in the past decade, these countries have begun to rely, extensively and prominently, on sectarian militias and gangs, either local or cross-border ones, at the expense of the state institutions…
"Arab and other Third World countries spend more on the military sphere than on economic and social development, infrastructure, job-creation, education, healthcare, scientific research and other areas… Most of the Arab peoples are collapsing under the sword of exile, poverty and want. This is in addition to the rising rates of ignorance and to the growing loss of Arab capital and human capital that goes to Western countries like the U.S. and the countries of Europe. [These countries] have strong and developed economies, whereas the external debt of Arab countries reached more than $1.5 trillion in 2023. All these dreary indications are an earthquake caused by the tyrannical Arab regimes that rule the Arab peoples. As a result, the recent fall of the regime of the tyrant Bashar Al-Assad is bound to be followed by new and wide-ranging waves of Arab Spring, in demand of justice, freedom and dignity, until the tyrannical regimes are overthrown. This is the inevitable future…'[6]
Cartoon in Qatari daily: "The fate of dictators throughout history" (Al-Watan, Qatar, January 14, 2025)
Qatari Journalist: The Course-Correction Of The Arab Spring Is Starting Again In Syria
On December 12, 2024, shortly after the downfall of the Assad regime, Qatari journalist Abdallah Al-Amadi, a columnist for the Al-Sharq daily, wrote that the course-correction of the Arab Spring had begun, and referred to this as 'the return of [the Prophet] Muhammad's army to disseminate justice':
'…Significant historical events such as these – the most recent of which was the fall of the Syrian regime – are ultimately a natural result [of the circumstances], even if they exact heavy prices. These are the rules or the norms of clash or struggle between truth and falsehood. The Arab Spring revolutions, which started a decade ago, conformed to these norms. Even if they were met with violent counterrevolutions, and went off track in all the countries where they occurred, we must [still] take the path of truth, which necessarily defeats falsehood and its army. Muhammad's army will surely return to disseminate justice, with Allah's help. It seems that the train of the Arab Spring, which started its journey in Tunisia, continued to Libya, Egypt and Yemen and broke down in Syria, is now starting again, perhaps taking a longer and wider [route]. This is a journey of strengthening and correction. A journey that begins in Syria this time, after the ember of the uprising against injustice, aggression and tyranny was ignited in the blessed land [i.e., in Palestine after the October 7 attack on Israel].'[7]
Article In Qatari Daily: Assad's Ouster Will Spark A New Wave Of Revolutions In The Arab World
Al-Arabi Al-Jadid columnist Bassel Saleh wrote in a similar vein in a December 18, 2024 column titled "Will Assad's Downfall Restart the Arab Spring?". He argued that this development had breached the dam, allowing "the river of the popular Arab revolution" to complete its journey across the Arab world:
"What happened on the night of December 8, 2024, namely the flight of the deposed president Bashar Al-Assad following the collapse of what remained of his regime… took us back to the moment when the regimes were struggling against the momentum of the Arab Spring before the eyes and ears of the entire world… The task that was completed last week [i.e., Assad's ouster]… was the spark that renewed that momentum and took us back in time, specifically to that revolutionary moment just before the regime's forces managed to reverse the equation in their favor and launch their counter-coup, thus declaring the end of the spreading popular Arab revolution.
"The ouster of the Assad regime today breaches the impenetrable dam that prevented the river of the popular Arab revolution from completing its journey, both within Syria and across the Arab [world]. So the picture we see today seems [to capture the precise] moment at which the dam burst and the river resumed its natural course. At such a moment the current is so abnormally [strong] that it is impossible to withstand. This moment, which has revived the hope in the hearts of the peoples, may provide a historic opportunity to increase the current, which will naturally become a new revolutionary wave, especially if it produces a spark that returns the Arab peoples to the moment of the [Arab] Spring…"[8]
Article In Qatari Daily: The Egyptians Can't Endure The Present Regime For Even One More Day
Amid fears that the toppling of the Assad regime would inspire the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt to attempt the overthrow of the Egyptian regime, Muhammad Tolba Radwan, a columnist for the Qatari daily Al-Arabi Al-Jadid, wrote under the title "On the Next Revolution in Egypt": "Everyone is talking about revolution, about a protest movement and about deposing the current regime in favor of 'some future or other.' Imagine! [Even] the unknown has become better than the current reality, because it can't [possibly] be worse for anyone, with the possible exception of some people who benefit [from the present state of affairs] – and even they are talking… about the possibility of a revolution. The [regime] loyalists talk about this out of fear; the oppositionists talk about it wanting [to realize it], and the families of the [political] detainees talk about it hoping to see their [loved ones] released… The Egyptians, hostage to the reality of their lives, are [all] talking about this, hoping for salvation…
"Can Egypt withstand a revolution today? Perhaps not, but neither can it stand to see the present regime endure for [even one more] day. Its enforced persistence means that Egypt's material and moral reserves are dwindling from day to day, and systematic destruction [continues]… This absurdity must end immediately. Nobody can claim to be a patriot while asking to preserve the current regime. It's one or the other: either Egypt or the current regime. That is the equation right now, which was not created by the enemies of the regime, but by the regime's own conduct, for the present Egyptian regime is its own worst enemy…"[9]
Al-Jazeera Presenter: Tyrannical Arab Regimes That Will Not Reconcile With Their Peoples Will Meet A Fate Similar To Assad's
On December 9, 2024, the day after the downfall of the Assad regime, Ahmad Mansour, a presenter and producer on the Al-Jazeera network, shared on his X account a picture of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and wrote: "The Al-Aqsa Flood, released by Yahya Al-Sinwar on October 7, 2023, will topple many more statues after that if Bashar Al-Assad, and change the face of the region."[10]
In another post, he shared a video of prisoners being released from a Syrian jail and commented: "This is a historic opportunity for the Arab tyrants, who fill their prisons with reformists and dissidents who oppose their corrupt regimes, to voluntarily open the gates of the prisons, release the detainees and reconcile with their people before they meet the same fate as Assad: to be driven out [and wander] the world without shelter or refuge."[11]
In a third post he shared photos of Assad regime's Sednaya prison, notorious for the torture and abuses that took place in it, and commented that "the tyrannical Arab regimes have dozens of such prisons, where tens of thousands of reformists and oppositionists are held in conditions no better than those endured by the oppositionists against the sectarian regime in Syria. If the tyrants do not hurry up and correct their mistakes, release the detainees and reconcile with their peoples, their fate will not be much different from that of Assad."[12]
One of Mansour's posts
* Z. Harel is a research fellow at MEMRI.
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